Tag: drink

It is an item used a lot in kitchens, and whether you are after a home-made milkshake, alternative baby food, or for separate foods to not be so separate, a blender performs the messy task that its name implies. But who first came up with the idea of creating the blender?

In the year 1922, American Stephen Poplawski (owner of the Stevens Electronics Company) is credited as having first produced the idea of implementing an electronic fast-spinning blade at the bottom of a plastic container as a means of turning more solid foods into liquid, with an official patent (‘device for turning fruit and vegetables into liquid’) being awarded to him in 1932.

It could be argued that he got his inspiration mainly from the first-ever AC/DC motor created by Hamilton Beach Manufacturing Co. in 1910, although the company’s co-founder Fred Osius would go on (over 25 years later) to find ways to improve on Poplawski’s product.

Despite Osius’ and other developer’s future attempts, though, there have been not been many groundbreaking developments or improvements on the original concept aside from improved reliability and small modified features, as well as much greater levels of marketing, which was funded by singer Fred Waring, whose interest in gadgets is said to have convinced him to financially back Osius’ design for a ‘Miracle Mixer’ which was later renamed as the ‘Waring Blendor’.

The product was advertised by Osius on roadshows across America in the late 1930’s, and the concept has not looked back since, sold by many companies worldwide with slight tweaks of features including specific food settings, timers, and speed levels. Blenders are now used in a number of day-to-day cooking activities, but drinks (in particular alcoholic ‘mixers’) remain the device’s main domain.

However, with modern society and video sharing websites such as YouTube, it is not just common food that gets put under the blender’s blade, as the popular Blendtec-operated web series Will It Blend? demonstrates. Featured below are blending attempts at an iPad, trainers, glowsticks, and a collection of Justin Bieber memorabilia. Just remember to keep the lid on…

A relatively unnoticed or unused item in many of today’s insulated and heated homes, but for people in lesser-equipped houses, colder climates, or outdoor activities in the winter months, a thermos flask can be key to keeping that refreshing hot drink at a toasty temperature, and keep cold drinks… not frozen, with any drink now able to be taken in as fresh as when it was made. Who came up with this small and portable, yet powerful insulator for liquid?

The answer is James Dewar, a physicist and chemist from Scotland, first came up with the idea of the ‘vacuum flask‘ (also known as the ‘Dewar flask’ at the time) in 1892. After a German scientist Reinhold Burger made a similar discovery, that it could keep hot drinks warm, he created a company to sell the flasks (it would be sold on a few years later) starting in 1904 under the company name of Thermos GmbH, the only trader of the device at the time. The business soon took off with the public, and due to its unique brand name, adopted the flasks to be known as ‘thermos’.

The product would be the recipient of several innovation-based awards, and the company grew its invention to test new materials, sizes, and purposes (such as a food jar). As well as being a crucial drinks-carrying device for the British military during World War II, the flask would also be used in scientific experiments for atomic energy. The product would continue to grow, and now can be used to maintain the condition of, and transport important medical material, such as blood transfusions, amongst a wide range of uses.

Today, thermos flasks are made from either plastic, metal or glass, and with the use of hollow walls and a vacuum-based insulator, any possible heat transfer is prevented when the cap (which often doubles as a drinking cup) is on. The video below from German TV (audio in English) demonstrates the basic function of the product, and the history of it in Germany: